Gonna Walk (To You)
by ceredonia
Summary: AU setting, romantic drabble. York/Carolina, flower-shop setting. Inspired by Barenaked Ladies "Gonna Walk".


"_He's_ here again."

"_Seriously_?"

"Do you want me to get rid of him?"

"No, I'll take care of it."

Carolina brushed some of her hair back from her eyes as she walked towards the front of the shop. A piece of red hair caught on her finger and she winced as it pulled away from her head, drifting towards her shoulder where it blended into her cardigan. She approached the young man standing near the rose cooler, admiring a bouquet of vibrant yellow roses, picking idly at the tips of his brown hair.

"Can I help you?" she asked, steeling herself for when he looked at her.

Surprisingly, his gaze remained fixated on the roses. "How much for a dozen of these?" he asked. His strong voice echoed throughout the small flower shop, and despite her annoyance at the fact that this was his third visit this week, she felt the corners of her lips turn up just slightly.

"Thirty-five for the deluxe, twenty-five for the basic," she replied, shaking her head as she headed over to the counter. He kept staring at the roses as though it was the hardest decision of his life. Or, at the very least, his day.

"I'll take a dozen of the deluxe," he finally said, turning to smile at her. It was a charming smile, one that always threw her off no matter how prepared for it she thought she was. Slightly crooked, highlighting his stupid adorable dimples, drawing attention away from the scar that ran across his left eye, partially blinding him. It had stemmed from a childhood accident, he'd explained one day, and hadn't said more than that. At least he'd made peace with it, and learned to compensate with one of the cutest smiles she'd ever had the pleasure of seeing.

"What color?"

"Yellow, of course." The smile persisted as he came over to the counter and leaned on his right arm, winking at her with his good eye. "It's the best color."

"Yellow means friendship," she automatically replied. "If you want romance, red is the way to go."

"But _everyone_ gives red roses. Doesn't that sort of take the fun out of it?"

"There's also white, or pink, or—"

"Yellow!" He lightly hit the counter with the palm of his hand, causing her to smile slightly. "Because it's the best."

"All right, yellow it is." Carolina left him at the counter and slowly walked towards the back of the shop where her coworker Dakota was waiting, grinning at her.

"And?" Dakota prompted, raising one eyebrow inquisitively.

"And nothing, he just wants to buy some roses.

"He's been coming in here every other day for three weeks and he never buys anything. Why today?"

"Who knows, maybe he got a girlfriend. Get your mind out of the gutter, moron," Carolina snapped, digging in one of the drawers for their shiny cellophane wrapping. She pulled out a sheet of blue paper and a spool of pale blue ribbon, ignoring the pointed looks Dakota was giving her as she headed back to the front.

The young man was waiting patiently at the counter, scribbling something on one of the cards from the greeting card display at the end of the counter. She couldn't make out what sort of card it was from the distance, so she just went over to the cooler and picked out twelve yellow roses from the large container. She shook them a few times to get most of the water away from the stems and carried them over to the counter, placing them on the blue paper.

She started working on wrapping them up as nicely as she could, trying to avoid glancing at him. He was still writing what seemed to be turning into an epic poem and smiled as he scratched something out, starting again. Eventually he crumpled up the card and reached for another one, giving her a quick look.

"I'm terrible with words," he muttered. She merely nodded, putting a store sticker on the paper to hold it together. She cut off a small piece of ribbon and wrapped it around the bundle of stems, tying it in a little bow.

"All set?" she asked, setting the freshly-wrapped bundle of roses on the counter next to his discarded attempt at a card. He glanced up and shrugged, finishing his note with a flourish.

"I suppose so. How much do I owe you?"

"Forty-three thirty-eight," she replied, ringing it up in the system. "I'll just charge you for the one card."

"Thanks," he said with a slight sarcastic tone, but she could tell he was smiling. She took his cash without looking up and set it in the drawer, getting his change. The coins dropped into his hand and he shoved them in his pocket, picking up the roses with one hand and both cards with the other.

"Have a great day!" Carolina said, smiling at him.

He grinned back. "I'll see you soon," he said, turning to leave. She blushed slightly—it sounded more like a promise than a generic goodbye, and she was oddly pleased with his tone.

"Oh my god, _seriously_?!"

Carolina turned to see Dakota leaning against the end of the counter, having appeared suddenly, her arms crossed over her chest. "What?!"

"Are you_ kidding_ me? Why didn't you ask him out?"

"Because he was buying flowers for someone? That's not a warning flag for you?"

"Oh my god, what_ever_." Dakota shook her head. "Do you even know his name yet?"

"No."

"_What_?!"

"I don't make it a habit of asking the names of the customers, Dakota!"

"Jesus, you're hopeless. That guy has been here countless times, only on days _you_ work, and makes it a habit to only talk to _you_. Doesn't that tell you anything?"

"It tells me you're paying too much attention to one customer and you need to get back to work." Carolina pushed past her and headed for the restroom to collect her thoughts. Dakota just drove her crazy most days.

A few hours later it was finally closing time. Dakota had gone home earlier, claiming she had a date, which was entirely plausible. Carolina went around the store, turning off the lights, checking to make sure the coolers were still running properly, and locked up the front door after she left, tugging on the handle to make sure it was locked.

She turned to walk towards her car and nearly tripped over something blocking her path. Looking down, she saw a familiar-looking bundle of yellow roses tied together with a blue ribbon lying on the cement. She bent down and picked them up, confused.

"_Please_ don't freak out," a familiar voice said nearby. Her head whipped around to the left to see the young man standing at the curb, his hands awkwardly shoved into the pockets of his jeans. "Don't worry, I haven't been standing here all night."

"Good, because _that_ would be bordering on stalking," Carolina replied, giving him a look.

"You should probably read the card. Isn't there usually a card?" he asked, giving her that lopsided smile.

She inspected the bouquet, but didn't see one. "Did you forget or something?"

"Oh, silly me, it's right here." He pulled one hand out of his pocket and stepped forward, reaching towards her with the small white envelope in his hand. She took it and their fingers touched briefly before he quickly dropped his hand. Juggling the flowers in the crook of her arm, she opened the envelope and slid out the card.

"'_I know we don't really know each other, but I'm hoping this will break the ice_,'" she read aloud, laughing a little.

"Oh my god, are you going to read the entire thing out loud?" He groaned, hanging his head in shame.

"Well, _now_ I am." She grinned and continued reading. "_'This is probably a really cheesy gesture, but flowers are for the beginnings of dates, and I was hoping you would consider continuing this one with me. I have reservations at Errera if you enjoy fancy food. If not, there's a great burger place down the street. By the way, my name is York_.'" She stopped reading and looked up at him. "Nice to meet you, York. I'm Carolina."

"Oh, I know."

"How—"

He pointed at her shirt and she glanced down, realizing her nametag was still pinned to her cardigan. Blood rushed to her cheeks and she stared down into the flowers in embarrassment.

"So how about that date?" York asked, holding out his hand.

She looked at it and smiled, reaching out to lace her fingers between his own. "Lead the way."


End file.
